JAPAN

An anorexic under doctor's orders to put on weight might fret unnecessarily about getting fat one day.

Japan may lack the implicit approval of G7 nations to spend big in any future efforts to stem sharp yen rises and will have to rely on limited opportunistic strikes to prevent a build-up of aggressive bets on its currency.

Solar industry revenue will shrink before it begins to rise again because dramatic price declines on solar panels will outweigh corresponding volume increases, according to a new report by Lux Research.

Spot gold reversed early losses, putting it back on track for its best week since January 2009 as worries about the euro zone debt crisis and global growth drive investors to safe havens.

Gold eases off the session's record highs after the CME Group raised margins on COMEX gold futures, but turmoil in the global financial markets and fears of slower growth buoyed sentiment.

Asian stocks edged up on Friday, as investors hunted for value after an intense week of volatility, though the festering European financial crisis may mean that havens like gold and the Swiss franc may still draw buyers.

The safe-haven Swiss franc nursed heavy losses in Asia on Friday, having posted record one-day falls against the euro and dollar after the Swiss National Bank threatened to step up its fight to curb the franc's strength.

The number of Americans claiming new jobless benefits fell to a four-month low last week, a sliver of hope for an economy battered for days by a credit rating downgrade and falling share prices.

World stocks and the euro fell back Thursday, prompting a rush to safe-haven government bonds as concerns resurfaced about the euro zone banking system and signs of funding stress.

World stocks edged up on Thursday from this week's 11-month low as higher U.S. stock futures calmed frayed investor nerves after a steep sell-off triggered by concerns about the U.S. economic slowdown and the euro zone banking system.

Russia?s ?tough? man stumbled upon two ancient artifacts while scuba diving at Taman Bay off the Greek Black Sea in southern Russia on August 10, 2011.

Japan sharpened its warning to currency markets on Thursday in the wake of the yen's rise near record highs against the dollar, keeping markets jittery about the possibility of a second round of intervention.

U.S. stock futures rose 2 percent on Thursday after a sharp drop on Wall Street overnight, limiting losses in Asian shares, though sustained gains depended on how Europe reacts to a sovereign debt crisis that is threatening its banking system.

Gold eased on Thursday from record highs struck earlier in the session after the CME Group raised margins on COMEX gold futures, but turmoil in the global financial markets and fears of slower growth will buoy sentiment.

U.S. stock futures rose 1 percent on Thursday after a sharp drop on Wall Street overnight, limiting losses in Asian share markets, though the focus was shifting to how Europe reacts to a sovereign debt crisis that is now threatening its banking system.

August's dramatic financial shock, which is now both feeding off and risks fueling another economic downturn, may well introduce a third phase of the four-year-old global credit crisis -- the infection of the ultimate creditors.

The magnitute 9 Tohoku Earthquake, which released a giant tsunami on Japan's coastal land, rattled the ionosphere, and almost reached out to space. The ionosphere is one of the highest layers of the atmosphere, and ripples were created in electrically charged particles created nearly 220 miles above Earth.

Car sales in China climbed 6.7 percent in July from a year earlier, extending a pattern of subdued growth in the world's largest auto market as the weak auto selling season kicks in.

The euro fell to fresh five-month lows against the yen in Asia on Thursday and looked set to stay under pressure as worries about the euro zone sovereign debt crisis spread to the region's banking sector.

The Tohoku quake off of coastal Japan that spawned a tsunami and wreaked havoc on land also triggered waves all the way up to the ionosphere, one of the highest layers of the atmosphere, creating ripples in electrically charged particles nearly 220 miles above Earth.

NASA scientists were able to observe for the first time the powerful effects of an earthquake and tsunami combined, which broke off large icebergs a hemisphere away off the coast of Antarctica.